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The Swedish central banking unit, Venantius, has shown that it is as keen as ever on 10-year yen trades, issuing its 27th of the year on December 21. The ¥1 billion ($9.05 million) note has a Bermuda callable fixed-rate step-up structure attached, which increases the initial coupon of 1% by 0.35% each year. The final coupon will be 4.15%. BNP Paribas was the bookrunner. Katarina Lovgren, part of the Euro-MTN team at Venantius, says: "We will be sticking with this type of trade as it is great funding for us. We have done loads of 10-year yen trades this year and although we would like some longer-term funding, because this type of trade is callable after a year it is a good substitute for CP."

Volkswagen has followed its CP update, where it doubled its issuing ceiling, by increasing the issuing limit off its euro2.5 billion ($2.44 billion) debt issuance programme to euro5 billion. There is $2.39 billion outstanding off the programme from 33 trades. And the issuer has raised over $3 billion in 2000 from the facility using 14 different dealers. Credit Suisse First Boston has placed the greatest volume for Volkswagen: $682.95 million from five trades. The programme was signed in 1996, with Commerzbank and JP Morgan as co-arrangers.

Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank has increased the issuing limit of its programme from euro1 billion ($891.8 million) to euro2 billion. Banca del Gottardo has been dropped as a dealer. According to MTNWare, it had failed to place any trades for the issuer. Nomura replaces it on the 10-strong dealer panel. The issuer has raised $808.52 million-worth of debt in five different currencies off its programme, which it signed in September 1999. Its favourite currency is Swiss francs.

US supermarket group Wal-Mart this week emphasised its leading position in the retail sector and its powerful attraction for investors by raising £500m of 30 year money at a spread several basis points inside price talk. The issue is the largest long dated corporate sterling deal, alongside Procter & Gamble's (P&G) £500m 30 year bond launched in January. Wal-Mart had planned a £300m issue priced in the 150bp area over Gilts, but an overwhelmingly positive response justified an increase to £500m and a narrowing in spread to 146bp.

US supermarket group Wal-Mart this week emphasised its leading position in the retail sector and its powerful attraction for investors by raising £500m of 30 year money at a spread several basis points inside price talk. The issue is the largest long dated corporate sterling deal, alongside Procter & Gamble's (P&G) £500m 30 year bond launched in January. Wal-Mart had planned a £300m issue priced in the 150bp area over Gilts, but an overwhelmingly positive response justified an increase to £500m and a narrowing in spread to 146bp.

The debt markets rallied this week in response to Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's speech on Tuesday, in which he indicated that interest rates may be set to fall next year. After a long period of rate rises and market uncertainty, Greenspan said that the US economy had cooled, warning instead that a sharp slowdown in growth may become the greatest cause for alarm.

Chase Manhattan, the mandated lead arranger of the debt facilities for the £660m Wembley stadium project, is expected to meet executives from the Football Association (FA) today (Friday) and its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited to discuss modifying the deal's structure following the loan markets' unenthusiastic response to the deal. Chase recently launched the £485m project financing for the stadium to banks with invitations to join as arrangers with take-and-holds of £40m each.

France KBC Bank has launched the Eu200m syndicated facility for Entenial to arrangers.

Belgium Interbrew traded up 6.7% on its first day of trading last Friday after its Eu3.3bn IPO. The shares opened at Eu34, up from an issue price of Eu33, and closed at Eu35.2. Although they got as high as Eu38 in the week, due to one large purchase, they closed yesterday (Thursday) at Eu35.4.

Fuji Photo Film Finance has concluded a five-year capped floater Bermudan callable, to be issued on December 21. The ¥1 billion ($9.03 million) note is the issuer's seventh yen trade of 2000. It has also done four US dollar notes off its $1 billion Euro-MTN programme. The trade matures December 21 2005, making it the longest-dated note it has issued this year. It pays a final coupon of 1.2% on a semi-annual basis. Marcel Sehuurmans, treasury officer at Fuji Photo Film Finance, also confirmed that the bookrunner off the note is Tokyo-Mitsubishi International.

Gemplus International priced its Eu495m IPO late last night, after lowering the bookbuilding range and reducing the deal size of an issue originally billed to raise Eu654m-Eu744m. The company reduced the range from Eu7.25-Eu8.25 to Eu5.75-Eu6.25 and shrunk the offering from 90.2m shares to 82.4m shares. Investors liked the company, but "conversations focused very quickly on valuation," said a banker close to the deal. "They were heavily distracted by market sentiment, and needed to be convinced of the risk-reward ratio of getting into an IPO now."